#Darren Charlton

[aurorawest]

2023 Reading Wrap-Up

Is it February of 2024? Yes! Am I still going to post my favorite books that I read in 2023? Also yes!

Ginn Hale's Cadeleonian Series, the second half of which I read in 2023: Champion of the Scarlet Wolf, Book Two; Master of Restless Shadows, Book One; and Master of Restless Shadows, Book Two

This series begins with Lord of the White Hell and continues with Champion of the Scarlet Wolf, then concludes with Master of Restless Shadows. Each duology follows a different set of characters, but it's a true series so you need to read them in order. It's a toss-up for me whether I preferred Champion of the Scarlet Wolf or Master of Restless Shadows. Both are fantastic duologies. I particularly loved getting Atreau's story in Master because he's sort of an unlikable playboy-esque character in the preceding books...but wait! Turns out there's more to him after all.

After Francesco by Brian Malloy

Who would think a book about living through the AIDS epidemic in NYC in the 80s would be as funny as this book is? It will also tear your heart out and stomp on it. Also takes place partly in Minneapolis (and is by a Minnesotan author).

Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh

Folklorist meets the Green Man and they fall in love. This is the first half of a duology, the second being Drowned Country, which I just finished today so can't included it on my 2023 wrap-up. All the dark and violent whimsy of the mythic past and the most brutal versions of fairy tales, plus a lovely romance.

Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh

Imagine the love child of Lost, Person of Interest, and Battlestar Galactica, but queer and with multiverse shenanigans thrown in (the author has cited Ender's Game as a huge influence). I don't want to say anything more than that, because I feel strongly that you need to go into this book knowing nothing. The twists and turns are so good, the main trio are wonderful, complicated characters, and the world is super cool.

The Bedlam Stacks by Natasha Pulley

In some ways the most heartbreaking of Pulley's novels. Also probably her most dreamy and magical. It's my least favorite of her books, but my least favorite Natasha Pulley book still ended up on my best of 2023 reading list.

The Half Life of Valery K by Natasha Pulley

This book awakened in me a latent love of Soviet queers. You'll see this book filed under sci-fi by booksellers, but it isn't really—it's historical fiction about a very real nuclear disaster in the USSR that was covered up for decades. Like all of Pulley's books, the characters are deeply complicated and flawed. The pleasure is really in reading the way she tells a story and her beautiful use of language, so even if you're not interested in Soviet nuclear disasters, I absolutely recommend you read this. Also, you'll probably be interested in Soviet nuclear disasters when you're done.

The Lost Future of Pepperharrow by Natasha Pulley

Haha, you thought The Watchmaker of Filigree Street punched you in the chest with feels? Get ready for the sequel, which will have you Curled Into A Sobbing Ball On The Floor™. Join Thaniel Steepleton, Keita Mori, and their adopted Waifish Victorian Orphan, Six, as they go to Japan, where things are weird, there are ghosts, and Thaniel and Mori still somehow don't understand what they mean to each other.

The Kingdoms by Natasha Pulley

"What if France won the Napoleonic Wars because of time travelers" shouldn't have shattered me the way this book did, but of course it's a Natasha Pulley novel so it absolutely did. Missouri Kite is the most Gay Little Man™. And Joe, poor Joe. The PINING. The YEARNING. When the reveal happens, I had to go back and read prior sections of the book and good god do they hit different. Different and SADDER. This book is my favorite of Natasha Pulley's novels.

Tommy Cabot Was Here and Peter Cabot Gets Lost by Cat Sebastian

The first two books in Cat Sebastian's The Cabots series. The books are historical fiction that follow various queer men in the Cabot family. The Cabots are one of those old money, liberal New England families—think Kennedys. Both books are about Sad Gay Men™ finding love in soft, tiptoeing Cat Sebastian fashion. Peter Cabot is a road trip romance and a bit longer, so the characters have some time to breathe.

Something Wild & Wonderful by Anita Kelly

This was probably a Stucky fic at one point, right? I mean. No shade though, truly! This was my favorite romcom that I read in 2023. It was also a comp for Strangers to Husbands, haha. I love the setting—hiking the Pacific Crest Trail—and I love the main characters, Alexei and Ben. Alexei came out to his family recently and got rejected, while Ben is from a big, accepting Portuguese family. Funny, touching, and an excellent love story.

Cattle Stop by Kit Oliver

Looks like a romcom but will stab you in the heart repeatedly. Kit Oliver has a gorgeous way with words and captures the dynamic between two people who have no idea how to talk to each other so well. I'm also a sucker for farm settings.

The Sugared Game and Subtle Blood by KJ Charles (The Will Darling Adventures)

I've read almost all of KJ Charles's books at this point, but the Will Darling Adventures are my favorites (I read the first book in the series in 2022). I love the combination of romance and action/adventure. I've never met a m/m book set in the interwar period that I haven't loved. Will and Kim are wonderful characters, and sometimes I think about what other adventures they had after book three ended.

Honeytrap by Aster Glenn Gray

An FBI agent and a GRU agent get assigned to work a case together in 1959 and they fall in looooove. There's a road trip, a family dinner, and FEELS. I'm not sure I've ever had a time skip hit me in the gut so hard. Remember how I said I love Soviet queers? Here's another example.

Wranglestone and Timberdark by Darren Charlton

What if the real dystopia isn't the zombie apocalypse, but "normal" life? I don't know if I've ever read a YA series that sucker-punched me as hard as this one. I know I've never read a zombie book that sucker-punched me as hard as this one. I don't think these books have even been published in the US (only in the UK), but if you can get your hands on them, they're worth it. Really beautifully written in a style that evokes the emptiness of the great national parks of the American west.

Honorable mentions:

The Charioteer by Mary Renault

The Scottish Boy by Alex de Campi

A Power Unbound by Freya Marske

[thepeculiarbird]

I really want to finish Wranglestone but I think I'm not emotionally ready to do it. (I have around 20 pages left)

[bookcoversonly]

Title: Wranglestone | Author: Darren Charlton | Publisher: Stripes Publishing (2020)

[ninjacat49]

Home by Cavetown is so Cooper coded oh my

[therealefl]

Charlton Athletic - Five Potential Replacements for Dean Holden - Opinion

Charlton Athletic’s fourth League One loss of the season yesterday proved to be costly for Dean Holden, the 43-year-old boss relieved of his duties at The Valley after lasting eight months in the hot-seat. Currently occupying 19th spot in the third tier, this weekend’s 2-1 away loss at Oxford United proved to be the final straw with a statement released yesterday evening confirming the news that…

[thetranscendentstateofnirvana]

help i just accidentally ripped a page out a book bc i turned the page too quick 💀 tried to tape it back in and now it’s like wonky errrrrrrr get owt

[armandyke]

Would love to hear about the books u read in 2024, surprise bests, biggest disappointments?

I think I will do a multi part post over the coming weeks with reviews of all the books I read since I have about half of them written up already. For now I'll just say my two absolute favourite reads of the year were Botanical Daughter by Noah Medlock and Monstrilio by Gerardo Sámano Córdova. Two very different books but both of them permanently altered my brain chemistry.

Below are my ratings for all the books I read and as I say, I'll try to post more in depth reviews over the next few weeks. My aim this year is to try and do proper reviews of the books I read as I'm reading them instead of having to go back several months later lmao.

Oh, and because it's something I'm always looking for specific recs for, I've highlighted the books with queer rep (that I remember) in pink, and the extreme horrors/books I advise checking trigger warnings for are marked with a lil skull.

1) Gone to see the River Man by Kristopher Triana (4⭐) 💀

2) Skeleton Crew by Stephen King (4⭐)

3) The Butcher by Laura Kat Young (5⭐)

4) The Hollow Places by T.Kingfisher (5⭐)

5) Salem’s Lot by Stephen King (4.5⭐)

6) The Shuddering by Ania Ahiborn (3.5⭐)

7) Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt (5⭐)

8) Nothing but Blackened Teeth by Cassandraw Khaw (3.5⭐)

9) Exquisite Corpse by Poppy Z Brite (4⭐) 💀

10) Good Girls Don’t Die by Christina Henry (1⭐)

11) The Devil Makes Three by Tori Bovalino (3.5⭐)

12) Starve Acre by Andrew Michael Hurley (4⭐)

13) The Dead of Winter curated by Cecily Grayford (3⭐)

14) Off Season by Jack Ketchum (3⭐) 💀

15) Brainwyrms by Alison Rumfitt (3.5⭐) 💀

16) Dead Inside by Chandler Morrison (4⭐) 💀

17) The Girl Next Door by Jack Ketchum (5⭐) 💀

18) Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman (4⭐)

19) Caraval by Stephanie Garber (2⭐)

20) The Grip of It by Jac Jemc (4⭐)

21) Thirteen Storeys by Jonathan Sims (5⭐)

22) Nod by Adrian Barnes (4⭐)

23) How to sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix (5⭐)

24) Among the Living by Tim Lebbon (2⭐)

25) 19 Claws and a Black Bird by Augustina Bazterrica (3⭐)

26) House of Hunger by Alexis Henderson (4.5⭐)

27) Song of Kali by Dan Simmons (DNF)

28) The Way of All Flesh by Ambrose Perry (DNF)

29) A House with Good Bones by T.Kingfisher (5⭐)

30) A Botanical Daughter by Noah Medlock (5⭐)

31) Cujo by Stephen King (5⭐)

32) The Dark Net by Benjamin Percy (3.5⭐)

33) The Dinner Guest by B P Walter (4.5⭐)

34) The Cloisters by Katy Hays (1⭐)

35) Diavola by Jennifer Thorne (5⭐)

36) Piranesi by Susanna Clarke (4.5⭐)

37) Nettle and Bone by T.Kingfisher (3.5⭐)

38) The Hatching (3.5⭐) Skitter (1⭐) and Zero Day (1⭐) by Ezekiel Boone

39) Come Closer by Sara Gran (4⭐)

40) Black Sheep by Rachel Harrison (5⭐)

41) The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden (DNF)

42) Wranglestone by Darren Charlton (3.5⭐)

43) Piñata by Leopoldo Gout (4⭐)

44) Everything the Darkness Eats by Eric LaRocca (1⭐) 💀

45) Bury Your Gays by Chuck Tingle (5⭐)

46) The Vampire Armand by Anne Rice (I didn't rate this because this was less like reading a book and more like studying for an exam)

47) The Ghost Woods by C.J Cooke (4.5⭐)

48) Dark Matter by Blake Crouch (3.5⭐)

49) Too Late by Colleen Hoover (DNF)

50) Alice by Christina Henry (1⭐)

51) The House of a Hundred Whispers by Graham Masterton (3.5⭐)

52) All the White Spaces by Ally Wilkes (4.5⭐)

53) Violent Faculties by Charlene Elsby (4⭐) 💀

54) Cuckoo by Gretchen Felker-Martin (3.5⭐) 💀

55) Such Sharp Teeth by Rachel Harrison (4.5⭐)

56) My Throat an Open Grave by Tori Bovalino (3.5⭐)

57) Bloom by Delilah S Dawson (4⭐)

58) Bored Gay Werewolf by Tony Santorella (DNF)

59) Out There Screaming curated by Jordan Peele (3.5⭐)

60) The Watchers by A.M Shine (4⭐)

61) Whalefall by Daniel Kraus (4.5⭐)

62) My Heart is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham (3.5⭐)

63) Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix (4.5⭐)

64) Incarcerat by Garth Marenghi (4⭐)

65) Feast While You Can by Onjuly Datta and Mikaella Clements (5⭐)

66) The Whistling by Rebecca Netley (4⭐)

67) Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield (4⭐)

68) Scuttle by Barnaby Walter (DNF)

69) Monstrilio by Gerardo Sámano Córdova (5⭐)

70) Revival by Stephen King (4⭐)

71) Blight by Tom Carlisle (3.5⭐)

72) The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw (5⭐)

[lgbtqreads]

Fave Five: Queer YA Zombie Novels

Hearts Still Beating by Brooke Archer Zombie Apocalypse Running Club by Carrie Mac The Past and Other Things that Should Stay Buried by Shaun David Hutchinson Take All of Us by Natalie Leif Out of Salem by Hal Schrieve Bonus: These are all US YAs, but for a UK YA, check out Wranglestone by Darren Charlton

[unitedbydevils]

Match Review: Manchester United U21s 5-1 Southampton U21s

Under the watchful eyes of Ruben Amorim, Darren Fletcher, Nick Cox and Jason Wilcox, United's academy prospects put on a reet show.

Ethan Wheatley almost got United off to a flyer in the 5th minute but a great throughball to the forward was met with a tame shot straight at the Southampton keeper.

United kept up the pressure though, and the Gore/Tyler Fletcher midfield duo was working nicely for the possession retention. These two would be the difference makers in the first half, with Tyler bagging in the 15th minute by hitting a STUNNING volley into the floor to bounce and loop over the outstretched arms of Adli Mohamed in the Soton net.

Gore would double United's lead thanks to poor defensive passing from the south coast side, with a bit of pinball passing from the United frontline coming back to Gore for a low, left-footed finish which - being honest - the keeper should have done better with.

A lovely throughball from Dan Gore - him again - in the 52nd minutes allowed Jack Moorhouse to outrun the Southampton defence and slot coolly past Mohamed to make it 3-0 United. Again, the keeper should have done more to protect his near post, but it was a good finish and a better pass - perfectly weighted.

Five minutes later and more poor defending was pounced on by United's front press, with Gore teeing up Ethan Wheatley for a looping first-time finish into the far top corner. 4-0, game over.

Of course, it's United, so never assume it's game over lmao. Five minutes after the Wheatley goal, Southampton bagged themselves a consolation; a laser-guided free kick from the wide right meeting the height of the unmarked Baylee Dipepa. A tough one to stop, but the lack of awareness... a little worrying. Hopefully it was just focus dropping at 4-0, rather than a genuine lack of scanning.

Right at the death there was a bit more Moorhouse Magic to come. Mee played out to Jack from the back, who drove up most of the pitch himself. Ball goes wide, back to Moorhouse, rides two tackles and wiggles through the box, to then poke home into the bottom corner. Southampton had more in the box than not and he still scored. You love to see it.

The two real standouts were Jack Moorhouse and Dan Gore.

Gore is somewhat of a known entity amongst United fans given his featuring in the first team briefly. He's a talented midfielder with a shot on him. My current feeling is Darron Gibson vibes, which isn't meant as a jibe - he was a good player and had a good career. The thing for Gore is if he can progress his potential to being more of a Keane or Charlton. He's certainly working hard, so here's hoping.

Moorhouse... in the words of Academy Arena: "Moorhouse is the Jack of all trades. Ball-carrying on lock. Tight space dribbling dialled. Passes kept simple. Shots fully loaded. Injuries have deprived him of playing time so it’s good to see him out there doing what he loves."

Collyer is still on the first team squad fringe, but I could see Gore being back there imminently too. For the likes of Moorhouse, Ennis, Wheatley, Amass... it feels like a little more work is needed. Maybe loans in January. We wait and see.

Next up - Leeds away, Friday 10th Jan, 7pm. A spicy start to the New Year which hopefully can be a big win to kick the year off right.

[rollercoasterwords]

13, 17 and 4!!! : ^ D

hi ridi <3 <3 <3

4. Did you discover any new authors that you love this year?

yes!! had encountered leslie feinberg in the past but this year was the first time i actually sat down + read some of hir books <3 also found a couple poets whose work i really loved - franny choi, natalie diaz, alice notley...& a bunch of korean authors w books i really enjoyed - bora chung, lee ki-ho, young-ha kim, cho nam-joo. also really enjoyed marquis bey's cistem failure & of course my beloved lindsey drager w the archive of alternate endings <3

13. What were your least favorite books of the year?

wranglestone by darren charlton & bad feminist by roxane gay :| wranglestone just kinda sucked generally but was especially disappointing bc i was v excited 2 read gay zombie apocalypse novel...a let-down. + i've talked abt why i disliked bad feminist before on this blog so won't give the full rundown but. just found many aspects of it politically noxious...

17. Did any books surprise you with how good they were?

the archive of alternate endings <3 been a long time since i've added a new book 2 my faves-of-all-time list like i was expecting it 2 be good but was shocked by how much i loved it <3 <3

end of year book ask game

[pxsieszn]

"They'll take everything you got inside you because they got nothing left inside them."

Darren Charlton - Wranglestone

[aurorawest]

Reading update

The Restless Dark by Erica Waters - 4.25/5 stars

Genuinely good YA thriller.

The Stagsblood Prince by Gideon E Wood - 4.25/5 stars

This one ripped my heart out and I am going to be PISSED if there isn't a happy ending in the third book in the trilogy.

You First by JC Lillis - 4.25/5 stars

You'd think a book that is essentially an Incredibles AU would be lighthearted, right? You wouldn't think you'd practically be sobbing by the end? Haha! You thought wrong!

Wranglestone by Darren Charlton - 4.25/5 stars

I initially rated this 4.25 stars but honestly I might bump it up to 4.5. It's a zombie story but it was really well done, and I ordered the second book in the series the minute I finished this one.

The Falcon and the Foe by AJ Truman - 3.75/5 stars

Felix Silver, Teaspoons, & Witches by Harry Cook - DNF

This one was too Middle Grade for me.

Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers - 3.5/5 stars

So I won my local indie bookstore's trivia in March and the first place prize was a bunch of books that I never would have picked up on my own, including this one. I bumped it to the front of my TBR pile because I thought it would make a good comp for the manuscript I'm editing - it's about a woman who meets and drunkenly marries a stranger in Vegas, then falls in love with her afterwards. The book is really not a romance though, and is actually about burnout. I might have rated it higher if it didn't sell itself as a romance.

All the Better Part of Me by Molly Ringle - 4.25/5 stars

The Kingdoms by Natasha Pulley - 5/5 stars

"What if France won the Napoleonic Wars because of time travelers" shouldn't have shattered me the way this book did, but of course it's a Natasha Pulley novel so it absolutely did. There isn't a single one of her books that don't live in my mind rent free for apparently the rest of time after I read them, but man. I'm not sure if this one hurt as much as The Lost Future of Pepperharrow, but it's pretty close. Missouri Kite is the most Gay Little Man™. And Joe, poor Joe. The PINING. The YEARNING. When the reveal happens, I had to go back and read prior sections of the book and good god do they hit different. Different and SADDER. AKDJF;AKDJFKDAFJ;D JUST PLEASE READ IT PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD.

A Destiny of Dragons by TJ Klune - DNF

Not only did I DNF this, I removed the rest of the series from my TBR pile and will be offloading them at my local indie bookstore's next book buy-back. I think the worst part of this one was that he dedicated it to his eighth grade English teacher, who apparently told him his stories would never amount to anything. And like. What an awful thing for a teacher to tell a kid (sidebar, my eighth grade English teacher is one of the reasons I started to really take writing seriously, she was amazingly supportive - thank you, Mrs. Brzezinski!). But reading this series is like...you know, she might have had a point. I KID I KID WE ALL KNOW KLUNE ACTUALLY CAN WRITE but holy shit again, this series is so bad. The writing was a little better than The Lightning-Struck Heart but the characters are so fucking annoying. The term Mary Sue gets thrown around a lot and I'm generally not a fan of its application (since usually it's used to tear down teenage girls) but Sam of Wilds is such a fucking Mary Sue (or Gary Stu, I guess, but down with the gender binary, let's just have one word). Everyone wants to have sex with him and while it may have been sort of funny at first (it wasn't), by book 2, the joke has worn extremely thin. Also there's a prophecy about him, because of course there is. And he's the most powerful wizard ever. And yeah, I've read a lot of books where there's a prophecy about the MC and they're the Most Powerful Magic Person Ever, but they're usually not this annoying.

Chainbreaker by Tara Sim - 5/5 stars

This is book 2 of a really interesting and original fantasy/steampunk series. I really enjoyed the first one but this one was even better. It takes place in a world where time running correctly is controlled by clock towers. The main character is a clock mechanic (obviously an important job) who falls in love with the clock spirit of the town of Enfield (delightful, since my wife is from Enfield and it's not a place you often see mentioned in fiction). This book raises the stakes of the first one and takes place largely in India. Highly recommend.

Stormhaven by Jordan L Hawk - 4.25/5 stars

Game Changer by Rachel Reid - 4/5 stars

Is this the OG m/m hockey book? There was something very quaint about it haha.

The Best Man's Problem by Sera Taíno - DNF

I'm beginning to realize that I don't really like books where the family is given equal importance to the romance.

Arctic Wild by Annabeth Albert - 4/5 stars

Hummingbird Heartbreak by Max Walker - 2.75/5 stars

I found Dusty's reaction to the reveal of Brandon's past to be over-the-top and unreasonable (like, unreasonable within the context of the story - obviously characters can react unreasonably to things, but it still needs to make sense for them!). I probably would have rated this 3 stars if not for that, because it's a sweet enough love story.

The World We Make by NJ Jemisin - 2.5/5 stars

NK Jemisin, please do not read this. Jemisin has been open about how difficult this book was to write, and about the fact that she couldn't handle the trilogy she'd planned and took it down to a duology, and…unfortunately, it shows. I loved the first book but this one was a disappointing finale. The pacing was uneven and the character development stalled. Plot threads were introduced and either vanished (Bronca's new girlfriend) or were resolved in a way that felt unearned (the mayoral race, Manny's true identity, honestly the whole big conflict). Aislyn was an interesting character who ultimately felt underutilized. I actually, physically cringed at a couple points during this book—the coda was really just one long cringe, and the other moment was when Brooklyn calls...Beyonce. Who is an old friend. But then Beyonce is never brought up again and I couldn't tell you what the purpose of her inclusion in the book was. I'm sure some people love that kind of stuff but I can't stand it.

I did really love the other cities though! If Jemisin ever returned to this universe, I'd read a book about Faiyum in a heartbeat. His snark and his gay little crocodile earring were chef's kiss.

Jemisin is a fabulous writer and all my issues with this book feel like the result of an author forcing herself to write something she wasn't feeling and just wanted to be done with. Disappointing all the same since I had really been looking forward to this one.

The Sugared Game by KJ Charles - 5/5 stars

It is not possible to go wrong with an AJ Charles book and this one is no exception. I love Kim and Will so much, and I really really hope the third book builds on the trust they established in this one.

Sixteen Souls by Rose Talbot - 3.75/5 stars

I liked this book but I did find myself, at the climax, wondering why on earth living people would sacrifice themselves to save ghosts from...being more dead? Like. They're...already dead.

[thepeculiarbird]

I just started Wranglestone yesterday, I read 5 chapters and I'm already in love with the vibe and the characters. Just the fact that a lot of stuff you know, younger kids of their time don't is just so interesting! I think this'll be my favorite read of the year.

[bookcoversonly]

Title: Timberdark | Author: Darren Charlton | Publisher: Little Tiger Press (2022)

[jinglebellrockstars]

Darren Charlton describes the forest in Wranglestone like Frank Herbert describes the desert in Dune

[bjsmall]

23.10.23

We went on our final blogging visit to Sherbourne to take completion pictures at the school for Amiri Construction. We have been blogging the build since August 2021.

Here we are with Amiri site managers Craig and Darren!

On the way back we stopped to have our lunch in Charlton Horethorne, which is a small peaceful village just outside Sherbourne.